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>> barack obama is given a royal welcome in london. the president -- with the president away, israel takes center stage in the u.s. congress. >> the border will be different than the one that existed on june 4, 1967. israel will not return to the boundaries of 1967. [applause] >> a volcanic plume causes thousands of flights to be canceled.

>> it is not as a special relationship, but an essential one. that is how president obama described the ties between britain and america. it is only the second time that a u.s. president has been given full honors of a state visit. they are attending a star- studded banquet at buckingham palace. they want -- day one of the president's visit was about the enduring friendship. >> a relationship which is

special between nations which have done so much together and heads of states his seems comfortable in each other's company. a queen who came to the throne nine years before barack obama was born, agree to the u.s. president and his wife and let them into the palace, where they will spend the next two nights. u.s. president cannot take carriage rides for security. the full ceremony -- ceremonial welcome was a symbol on the palace lawn. ♪ after the american national anthem, president obama inspected a guard of honor. soldiers who were serving alongside american forces in afghanistan. inside the palace, a short

meeting with prince william and the duchess of cambridge. the first time they have been seen it since their honeymoon. it was to underline that they are not working roils yet and to avoid any distractions from the guest of honor. they were busy in the palace picture gallery, where the queen was showing them a collection of historical documents. king george the first lamented, america is lost. it reflected on the importance of future friendship. in the past century, that friendship has often found expression in shared sacrifice on the battleground. they would from the palace to westminster abbey. most recently, it was the scene of a joyful of royal wedding. this afternoon, it was for president obama laid a wreath

at the grave of the unknown warrior. he said prayers and memories of all of those who lost their lives. today is essentially about the symbolism of a state visit. the serious talking comes tomorrow. in a pre lead to tomorrow's talks, president obama paid a brief visit to downing street. the chance to shout david cameron the standard issue limousine for u.s. presidents. i dreaded that had not been on the original program, the president and prime minister went to a school in south london, a surprise for the people who had no idea that he was coming. they watched them play a game of table tennis. finally, back to buckingham palace to prepare for a state

banquet where both the queen and the president work -- will post a unique and essential relationship between their two countries. >> tomorrow, he will get much more down to business. for more on what we can expect, let's turn to the london bureau chief. he joins us now from outside buckingham palace. the special relationship is essential, perfect working order, but it is not quite as rosy as that, is that? >> there is a lot to discuss. today, you saw them try to lay the groundwork for the big message for tomorrow. there is not a lot of space between these allies, the leaders are together, they played ping-pong together, the president of the united states was paying respect to the war dead of the u.k. tomorrow, you get down to the

top staff, to figure out issues about the next steps on how to extricate -- extricate ourselves from afghanistan successfully. libya, what role or all of the coalition partners going to play in concluding that mission. and israel, of course. >> would you say that the economy is something that has gotten even tougher to deal with? both mr. obama and mr. cameron have different views. >> they are going to try to make it sound like a sort of agree with each other, when they don't actually agree with each other. i think the president is going to acknowledge the spirit of the austerity plan in the u.k. without actually endorsing it. there is not a whole lot between them. >> when you listen to the

president talk about the special relationship, the essential relationship, it reminds me of a reaffirmation of marital vows. it is more important to britain, at this special relationship. what is in it for america? >> the essential relationship sounds like a new ad campaign for a product that needs to be updated. the special relationship 2011, not just special, but essential. going forward, i'm not that is a senior partner in this bank. the brits carol lot about it. the americans do need to have european allies that they can rely on. we have seen that in libya, where the u.s. did not want to step forward and lead a coalition. they wanted nato and the other allied partners to participate in that. it is not all of a one-way

street. >> we have to leave it there. president obama announced that as soon as the european trip and, he will visit misery to survey the devastation from the tornadoes in joplin. recovery teams continued to pull bodies and survivors from the rubble. there have been extraordinary story state of recovery. tell us more about that. >> that is right. 17 people polled so far from the rubble you yesterday and today. rescue crews coping more folks are out there. there are unconfirmed reports of the three people being pulled from one of the big home depot stores across the way. those are just rumors at this point, not confirmed.

but three survivors allegedly pulled from a big store in joplin. 17,000 homes were either damaged or destroyed. the owner of this come told me that he was 10 miles away at the time. his home is relatively intact, despite suffering a lot of damage. but take a look at his neighbor's home. absolute devastation. this is really an apocalyptic landscape. it used to be suburbia, but now it looks more like a forest. rescue crews came through again today and want to make sure that you're not missing anyone. this area is expecting another line of stores here tonight. that has made the search and rescue efforts even more urgent. >> do you think that this

community can rebuild itself? >> when you come here and using the scope of the devastation, you think, how can they ever recover? time and time again, there are communities -- a separate a horrendous storm that level the entire town. they have rebuilt. you do not want to underestimate the folks here because they say they are going to rebuild, and i believe them. >> thank you very much. airlines have grounded about 500 .lights as iceland's volcano thousands of passengers are affected. authorities hope that this time things will not be as bad. we have been tracking the ash

cloud. >> a satellite view of the north atlantic, the bright pink is a volcanic ash. it is not easy to follow exactly where it is going. once the wednesday close of the ice, there is no guarantee of tracking it. this is the latest estimates. the red areas are where they think the- -- the ash is going. how are they keeping watch? this is one of the network of 20 or so devices used to try to keep track of the ash cloud. it fires a laser beam straight up. this is what a laser in scotland detected this morning, the red spots are proof that there is a volcanic ash in the air.

the ash is not evenly spread. >> because of the random nature, we can not know exactly where the cash will be. -- ash will be. all of the professionals understand that. that is the best that anybody can do. >> planes could took off in clear air, but up 20,000 feet, encountered ash. scientist say that the threat is real. >> the evidence suggest that this particular eruption may not go for as long. >> the good news is that the airdrops in iselin down. -- eruption is slowing down. >> the operators of the

fukushima nuclear plant are concerned that the crisis was more severe than first thought. tokyo electric power said that nuclear fuel melted down in it to other reactors. the team of international experts to be visiting the fukushima plant in the next few days. egypt's a former president is to face trial for the killing of hundreds of protesters. mr. mubarak was ousted from power in february. the palestinian prime minister has suffered a heart attack during a visit to the united states. but 59-year-old is reportedly suffering strong chest pains while visiting austin, texas. he, was taken to the hospital. he is said to be in a stable condition. the israeli prime minister netanyahu received a warm reception before a joint session of the u.s. congress.

his words were not as warmly received by palestinians. when mr. netanyahu got into the dispute today, he used biblical terms. >> this is not easy for me. i recognize that in a genuine peace, we will be required to give up parts of the industrial jewish homeland. in samaria, the jewish people are not foreign occupiers. [applause] >> middle east editor doing to me now to take stock of today's speech. this was another -- >> the fact that he stated them

so explicitly in the form -- forum suggest that it chose the gulf between the israelis and palestinians. look at the tears he got today. >> to do that on president obama home turf while the president is a way, that is not going to go down too well. >> playing politics, certainly. critics are starting to voice these opinions, not just palestinians. they are saying that by battling -- bat and down the hatches, mr. netanyahu has deepened his well of isolation and that he is putting his country on a collision course with the middle

east that is changing around them. the old solution and the old formula are the best things for the future. no new ideas. >> despite all of the investment in what might happen, are we further away now from solution to the arab-israeli conflict? >> we were quite a long way to months ago. the whole thing is deepening. it is pushing forward to another potential -- the general assembly of the u.n. will try to get their independence recognized. the americans are against that. europeans, perhaps, not so much. >> called dangerous is this moment for the region? -- how dangerous is this moment for the region? >> i am not sure how great an opportunity is at the moment. there is an opportunity to make things worse.

perhaps, that is what he is doing. >> thank you very much. you are watching bbc world maize permit -- news. it used to beat russia's richest man, but he was found guilty for stealing oil from his own company. the court of appeals upheld his conviction. >> as he stepped into -- he knew was his last chance to avoid a further prison sentence. he has already served eight years. in the second trial last year, that was extended to 14. he told the judge is that the

author of that verdict -- he encouraged them to overturn it. it was not possible to make connections to this verdict. stock of the disgraced -- stop the disgrace. >> its a little bit over five minutes for the judges to dash any hopes that he had been adjusted some details, but the guilty verdict remained. they did reduce his sentence by one year. the verdicts will hardly come as a surprise. russia's most famous prisoner returned to jail. he it once ran russia's oil company that he has been convicted of defrauding. his family has said that he has been prosecuted for political reasons. >> somebody wanted to be this

way, so it'll be this way. >> despite the protests outside the court, many ordinary people in russia believe he deserves to be in prison. his mother knows that the international community remains concerned about the case and what it says about the rule of law in russia. >> the giants of the internet world went head-to-head with the politicians. it was hosted by the french president nicolas sarkozy. he insisted it must be regulated. the forum will be presented at the g8 leaders later this week. our correspondent reports from paris. >> ordinarily, they might have meant in an on-line forum. but this week, the intent industry has come together the old fashioned way to debate the

big issues at the highest level of world politics. on the guest list, eric schmidt. the french president acknowledges a huge gap incomprehension between the techies and the policy makers. >> the universe that you represent is not a parallel one, free of the rule of law, free of morals. >> present sarkozy is known for his tough line on internet piracy. the kind of regulation that creates great anxiety within the industry. >> why are you here? >> i think it is a good idea to

be present when movement is afoot to take away some of the values that you cherish. >> both sides agree they need to encourage more growth. but this agreement is on how much -- the disagreement is on how much control there should be. the other view is that they would like to regulate the industry, control it. where is the balance? privacy is a hot topic in the u.k. on a moment. tens of thousands of people on twitter -- on the other hand, put her plight is seismic role in the successful uprising in to amnesiac and -- tunisia and egypt. >> people should be held responsible for what they publish. >> isn't really the job of politicians to gamble with a social revolution?

it could lead us to a heated debate this week. president obama thinks knowledge and internet access are the trump cards in alleviating whirled politics. he knows the importance of this industry to the future of the u.s. economy. >> label in tonight's program where we began. they published aid joint article to date proclaiming the relationship between u.s. and britain as essential. why does it matter so much? >> as much as anything, this visit as about shifting a special relationship and to what is now being called an essential one. in new i did you redefine and establish partnership. -- a new adjective to redefine and establish partnership. there is no doubt the affection

felt for the president and first lady. the message underlying the visit is that the special relationship is mutual, and not one-sided. >> it is too closely associated with the kind of desperate longing for american approval i am glad that it is out of the way. >> what is she going to talk to the queen about? >> the special relationship has always been essential, especially when one parent is american and the other is english. we meant to such families in south london. >> you realize that the attention that america is moving to china. he starts to think, we are not that special to them. >> the uk wants to have a special relationship.

>> we came down to see history. it was worth while to come down and see a piece of history. >> this roller coaster of a visit of boards a shipped to a special -- from a special to an essential relationship. it is strong alliances that will matter evermore. >> in the national psyche of the united states. how big it will be depends on how engaged it is with this new world. >> back in south london, even for the very young, the personal can be political. special can become essential. >> i was excited. i am american and i am british

as well. it is an exciting for britain and america. >> almost a month ago, bank of this as kind of a diplomatic waiting, the renewal of marital vows between america and britain. people might be slightly perplexed by this relationship. in britain, these words matter enormously. you could find out much more on our website. that is all for tonight. see you tomorrow. >> hello and welcome. >> see the news unfold, get the

top stories from around the globe and click-to-play video reports. go to bbc.com/news to experience the in-depth, expert reporting of "bbc world news" online. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its financial strength to work for a wide range of companies, from small businesses to major corporations. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news america" was

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